The Right Kind of Wrong
by Vintage Taylor
Summary: Gine stared up at the male with challenging eyes. He was always willing to accept a challenge. "What about love?" "Nonexistent. But I could still never love someone who is weak. And that's final." Fate is written in the stars when the strong and inexpressive starts looking at life through the eyes of the weak and gentle.
1. Chapter 1

Bardock could remember every single moment, every single minuscule moment on the battlefield perfectly. The messy-haired Saiyan could remember what worked, and what didn't. He could remember the faces; none victorious, but nevertheless always stayed in Bardock's mind. All these picture-perfect memories of all the fights made the Saiyan the brilliant tactician he was today.

Yup.

A third class warrior far deserving of being an elite.

That was the goal, at least.

But something very odd has happened to the young soldier.

All these years of memorizing fights alongside his crew, making his claim of being leader through his countless victories, and one damn woman made him forget his name.

His fucking name!

"Uh," the tiny female with hair that spiked downwards was still holding out a hand to introduce herself to her nameless leader who was just blinking at her. "I said my name is _Gine_. What's yours?"

Mr. No Name continued to blink a third time before clearing his throat, questioning himself as to why the hell he was acting so foolish. She was a damn woman, for crying out loud! A regular, ordinary Saiyan female that was probably as mouthy and ruthless as the rest. But those eyes... And that face... The male cleared his throat once again, standing up as straight as possible to show his authority with a sneer to match. "Bardock."

Gine smiled politely despite the grumpy male's persona, and her hand remained extended towards him. When he slapped it away, she pouted. "Well, you're not very nice, Mr. Bardock! It's just a handshake!"

"I don't do handshakes," he snapped and turned his back to her, beginning to walk towards the space pods where his other crew members were waiting to start their new mission and expecting her to follow. He cursed under his breath, still pissed off that the dainty thing left him speechless. "What kind of warrior does, anyway? Pathetic."

The little lady tip-toed behind him, literally on her tip toes so she could be closer in height to his rather tall body, and winked at the back of his messy head. "Maybe I'm not a warrior."

Bardock immediately stopped in his tracks, whipping around to snarl at Gine who wasn't even phased by his angry demeanor. He was slightly caught off guard by just how closely she was following behind him in the first place, but managed to keep his tough composure despite how much little space was between them. "Listen _Gine_ ," his fangs were showing now, hoping to scare the woman into a decent partner. "I don't know what hole the Planet Trade Organization members pulled you out of, but as long as you're assigned to _my_ crew, you don't say stupid shit like that. Got it?"

The two stared at each other; one with hardened orbs and the other with inquisitive ones. The inquisitive ones widened in a bit of shock, realizing something she had noticed before but was now positive of it. "Hey!" Gine reached out and placed a finger on Bardock's nose, causing her leader to freeze up again. "Whaddya know, you _are_ cute!"

"...Cute!?" Bardock was snarling once more, but was unable to hide the slightly glowing crimson color on his cheeks. "Cute!?"

Gine took a step back, noticing how his muscles were beginning to tense up a bit. "Take it easy, take it easy!" she winked for the second time at him, and raised her hands in front of her for defense. "What would you like to be called? Handsome? Gorgeous?"

"BARDOCK!" The Saiyan accidentally shouted out, quickly and noticeably embarrassed by losing his composure and letting his frustration get the best of him. He shook his head at his mistake and turned his back once more to the woman. "Come on, pain in my ass. Let's go."

Gine raised an eyebrow at the nickname, but decided to keep her mouth shut and follow. She honestly felt a bit guilty and sad for her leader; not being able to have a little fun now and then. Deciding not to bother with making friends with him anymore, she glanced up at the brightening sky and wondered what it would look like on the planet they were sent to conquer next. She fiddled with her thumbs, wanting to ask Bardock so many questions but knew better not to. She wondered just how much the Saiyan male knew about her; what others might have said or what he overheard. She'd been switched around crews so many times, the woman herself couldn't believe she was still alive. A weakling like her didn't deserve to be a Saiyan...

The woman sighed quietly, thinking about what so many have told her over and over again yet someone was always willing to give her a chance. Somehow and for some reason, Bardock had taken her in without even meeting her. "You must be so disappointed..."

"Hn?"

Gine blushed, looking hard down at her pink and gold plated boots. "Nothing, nothing! Just talking to myself." She glanced up when she thought she heard him chuckling to himself. .

"What a freak."

The woman fumed, immediately ceasing to walk any further behind her leader. Sensing her movement ending, Bardock glared over his shoulder at her until she crossed her arms over her chest and looked away. "I am _not_ a freak, you bully."

The male raised an eyebrow, looking Gine up and down. He could see every detail of her profile; from the way her bangs were placed in the same direction as his to the way her cheek bones seemed to be carved perfectly. She wore armor extremely similar to his, but were gold and pink like Fasha's. Bardock didn't really care much for the hideous colors on his teammate, but for some reason found them very... flattering to this Gine woman. He instantly glared when he took notice of something. "Why the hell is your tail not wrapped around you!?"

"Huh?" Gine blinked, and glanced over her shoulder to see her tail swaying around happily. When she turned her attention back to the scowling Bardock, she grinned brighter than the suns on Planet Pentium. "It likes to roam free!"

"Roam-... God dammit," Bardock slapped himself in the forehead, causing Gine to laugh until she realized her leader was standing just an inch before her. He pulled her into him by placed his large hand on the small of her back, and then used his free hand to grab her tail gently. The woman's eyes widened while he began wrapping her tail around her waist, looking into her eyes while doing so. "Our tails do not have a mind of their own. You better train it better, or else you're going to get yourself in a lot of trouble. And you better fucking believe I'm not getting you out of it."

"But I don't like it," Gine pouted, looking down at the furry brown tail around her waist and then back up at Bardock's dark orbs. "It looks weird."

Bardock clenched his teeth tightly, speaking through them while tightening his hold on Gine. She could feel his grip beginning to hurt, but was unable to do anything about it but just look uncomfortable. "You're going to look a lot more weirder if you let some alien bastard take advantage of your weakness," he searched her pained eyes for a moment, feeling a strange mixture of guilt and pride for finally getting her where it hurt. "One of your many weaknesses, I should add."

He loosened his hold when he noticed she was beginning to have shorter breaths, only to realize it was because she was beginning to cry. Gine swallowed, trying to keep the tears in her eyes at bay while she raised her chin up at Bardock. With a new look of determination taking over the hurt in her expression, Bardock couldn't help but smirk. At least she wasn't the kind to be broken. "I don't think having a heart is a weakness, Bardock."

"Oh, is that so?" he replied sarcastically and then snorted. "Please. Give me break."

Feeling any hint of tears leaving her, Gine continued to stare up at the male with inquisitive and challenging eyes. And he was always willing to accept a challenge. "Don't you think this life is already depressing enough without laughing at yourself or enjoying the small things like how the stars look on another planet? Or what about love? Don't you want to find a mate willing to give you their heart?"

Bardock couldn't help but roll his eyes in disgust at the trash she was speaking. He looked down at her for the last time, at least hoping to the gods it would be the last time, and spoke harshly. "I could never mate with someone who is weak."

"What about love?"

"Nonexistent," but he still added for good measure. "But I could still never love someone who is weak. And that's final."

As quickly as he had held her, he pushed her away and the two walked in silence to the launching area where the rest of the crew were impatiently waiting inside their pods. Gine noticed that they were staring at her through the glass of the pods, some looking at least nicer than Bardock. There was one in particular who flashed a thumbs up at their leader, a Saiyan who looked rather cramped from his enormous height with a small ponytail on the back of his head, and then proceeded to wink at Gine.

The woman scratched the back of her head and looked over at Bardock who was flipping him off while there were faint sounds of laughter emerging from the other pods. "What's that all about, boss?"

Bardock smirked at the term, but he hid it to the best of his ability as he motioned over to an empty pod that was in the very back of the others. "That one is yours, pain in my ass."

Gine frowned, taking notice of the empty one in the front next to the Saiyan who winked at her earlier and pointed at it. "I want that one."

The male scowled, picking her up like a wounded animal and began walking towards the pod in the back while there were catcalls coming from the others. For some strange reason, Bardock knew this wouldn't be the last time he would be holding her like this. "..What the fuck!?" He nearly dropped Gine when he saw his right hand man, Tora, sitting comfortable in the backseat pod and grinning wildly. Once more, he gave the grumbling leader a thumbs up and wink while chuckling to himself.

Bardock continued to curse under his breath while he marched back to the front with his pain in the ass, whom he dropped on the ass when they came to the two now empty pods in the front. Gine rubbed the back of her head and winced, and the male rolled his eyes at the fact she landed nowhere near her head. "Get in," he ordered, pulling out a remote to press some buttons as the door opened. He motioned at the remote Tora had left on the ground near her feet. "Hurry!"

"Hurry!" Gine mocked, getting to her feet and brushing herself off. She bent down to pick up the remote and crawled into the pod. Before securing herself inside the ball for however many days, weeks, or months this was going to take, she smiled over at Bardock who was already looking at her. "Boss, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!" She giggled to herself when she noticed his eye was twitching right before she was closed in.

The leader of the strong crew, minus a nuisance, stared at the woman inside the closed pod for one more minute before doing the same. He reclined back in the perfect seat, pressing the buttons and listening to the robotic voice fill the ship as it counted down the seconds to lift off. He glanced over one last time at the pod beside him, noticing that the woman was leaning against the side and daydreaming about something.

Probably stars.

Or laughter.

Or hearts.

He shook his head as the ships took off one by one into the sky.

* * *

 **A/N:** So many projects lmao. I just needed a Gine and Bardock fix before I go out this weekend for Comic Con :-) Let me know your thoughts; I have a lot planned for this! Just need to get more Gine and Bardock stories out there.


	2. Chapter 2

"What a boring life," Gine yawned into her scouter, not realizing it was on as she continued talking to herself. "Stuck in a pod and traveling somewhere I'm forced to be." She blushed hard when a low growl was heard and then sweatdropped when her leader began to speak through the transmitter.

"How ungrateful can you be?" Bardock replied, a hint of anger in his unusually calm voice. "You should be thankful you're 'stuck in a pod' instead of laying dead in a ditch somewhere. I honestly don't know how you're still alive after being switched around so much."

Gine rolled her eyes, and as usual wasn't affected by his words. "Didn't know you were listening in on me, boss."

Flying in the pod beside her, Bardock placed his arms behind his head and leaned back as much as the cramped space would allow him. A playful smirk grew on his lips as he decided it would be fun to get under her skin. Hell, there wasn't anything better to do! The scar-faced Saiyan was never the one to sleep just because. He got what his body needed, and remained awake and prepared at any time. "If you weren't here doing what you are now, what would you be doing instead?"

Gine blinked, surprised that he was actually asking it sincerely without a hint of sarcasm in his voice. She rubbed the bottom of her chin, deep in thought as the sound of her breathing caused Bardock to feel funny. "Well," she laughed shortly, but he could just picture that smile of hers as she did so. "I guess I would have to say distributing meat!"

"What the fuck?" Bardock whispered to himself but Gine heard and fumed. "You want to be a butcher?"

"Yeah!" she frowned on the other end of the scouter. "What's so wrong about that?"

He shook his messy-haired head, not able to picture the sweet female with a butcher's knife. "A puny thing like you would be crushed by all the real Saiyans within seconds. I'd pick a different profession, if I were you."

"Well you're _not_ me," Gine huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Look, if you don't have anything nice to say, I'll just turn this scouter off!"

He surprised her. "Alright. Fine. Be a butcher, I really don't care."

"Thank you."

Bardock glanced out of the space ship's window in hopes of being able to see Gine. She sounded angry, and for some reason, the Saiyan male thought it would amusing to see her pouting. His eyes narrowed until the figure of the woman became clear. She was sitting with one leg crossed over the other and was rubbing her arms. "Are you cold?"

Gine glanced over at him and shrugged. "Just a little."

"You're too thin."

He couldn't help but lick his lips in excitement when she finally pouted. He had been waiting on that. "Well, I'm not sorry! I can't help it!" Bardock watched as she shifted her body around so she was now fully facing him. He raised an eyebrow when she pointed to her stomach. "Is this really such a bad thing!?"

The leader couldn't help but roll his eyes as she continue to poke her stomach. "No! It's just all the females I've ever seen at least have a little bit of... something going on for them. But you..." He waited for her reaction, and then smirked in satisfaction when she began pounding on the glass furiously.

"You're just one big bully, Bardock!" Tap, tap, tap. "I've been so nice to you and you keep making fun of me!"

"Why haven't you turned off your scouter, then?"

"... Huh?"

"Your scouter," his smirk grew. "It's still on because you want to talk to me."

Gine became flustered and immediately shifted herself back to where she was before, facing the front so the Saiyan on the ship next to her could only see her profile. She tried hard of thinking about a good comeback, but ended up falling short. So, she opted with being silent while Bardock could only hear the sound of her ragged breathing. He frowned when he noticed she was still rubbing her arms.

"We'll land soon. I'm... sorry you're so cold."

The woman's blush continued to grow when she realized he was being sincere. The warmth from it was causing her body to become warmer by the minute. "Thanks... Bardock. That's surprisingly sweet of you."

"Don't thank me," he muttered. "You're part of my crew now, right? We all watch out for each other despite our differences. All I ask is that you listen to me, and I'll have your back."

Gine's smile only grew more when she looked over at Bardock only to catch him still looking at her. "Sure thing, boss!" She listened to the sound of him sighing and cracking his neck and knuckles, not able to look away while his large muscles moved. When he turned his attention back to her, he caught sight of her oogling eyes.

"You want a picture or something?"

"No!" Gine snapped, and immediately turned away while Bardock chuckled darkly at her embarrassment. For some reason, he enjoyed watching the petite woman move, and it didn't matter what she was doing. Although he had teased her about it, he actually liked the fact she was so thin. It made him believe she was fragile and delicate, something deserving of being protected. He shook his head, slightly blushing himself when he realized what he had just thought. She was a weakling, nothing more and nothing less.

He was certain.

Maybe.

"Do you have a mate, Gine?"

The woman slowly turned her head for the nth time within twenty minutes, not really ready to see the way he would be looking at her. Sure enough, his eyes were burning into her and making her feel warm all over. "Why are you asking?"

"I recall you talking about love and other nonexistent bullshit. Tell me, do you have a mate that makes you believe all that?"

"No," she sighed and turned her attention back to the front as she watched them begin to pass a small red planet. "You don't need a mate to make you find your heart. You just have to search for it yourself, and enjoy life for what it is. Even if it is life in spaceship. At least there's beautiful things to see all around you."

Bardock was silent for a moment, secretly admiring the way she touched the glass as if she could feel the planet that way. "Are you really complete as you say you are?"

"No," Gine said once again, smiling through her sad honesty. "There is something that I want."

The warrior felt a hunger in him that hadn't been around in ages when he heard her shaky breath beginning to admit one of her longings. Even he couldn't lie to himself; the woman in the ship beside him was ideal perfection in his eyes. His preference were women like Fasha except not Fasha, strong women with backbones and able to hold their own. Women that he didn't feel the need to protect or keep warm during travels... "What do you want?"

"A friend."

The sudden ache in his chest at the confession made the brilliant tactician have the urge to land somewhere immediately so he could get out and hold her. Bardock cleared his throat loudly, shaking all the sappy and corny thoughts away and feeling disgusted by himself. Still, there was that need deep down inside to keep this woman safe. "You don't need a friend. You have a crew now. We're the only ones you need."

Gine placed her hand on her heart, feeling like it was going to burst from her chest at the joy she was feeling from his words. Her eyes locked with his, and she tried hard to fight her tears as she spoke softly into the scouter. "You actually treat your crew like that? All the ones I've been in... they've never even really spoke to each other. I always felt like I didn't belong."

"They're like my brothers and sister," Bardock watched as a shy smile crept across her face and he pressed a hand against the glass. "Like I said before, we all have each other. You belong here and as long as you as listen to me or Tora, this is where you'll stay."

The smile on her face so bright that Bardock believed even the gods in Other World could see it. There was nothing more Gine wanted to do than hug him tightly and thank him endlessly for the kind words she had been longing to hear. Instead of pushing her luck, she sighed sweetly and sleepily into the transmitter. "Good night, Bardock. Just wake me up when we're approaching, okay?"

The Saiyan watched through his peripherals as Gine leaned her head back on the small seat, closing her eyes. He listened to the sound of her breathing rhythmically for a moment before finally responding. "Good night, Gine."

"Good night, Gine." Another voice came mocking through the transmitter, with strong bellowing laughter to match.

"Go to hell, Tora!"

* * *

 **A/N:** Ah I'm so so happy some of you are enjoying this :-) I'm not sure if I can or will consider this a drabble fic since the chapters have been very short, but they won't stay this way for long. I just updated another story before this so I kinda wanted to end here. The next chapter will open up with them finally arriving to their destination, and will be much, much longer. As always, thank you guys so much and I hope this was good!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N** : I just couldn't wait lol. I'm sorry for those who follow me and constantly get emailed. I just love characterizing and focusing in on Bardock (and Gine) for my other stories, and I think it's sweet to wonder and write about how they possibly ended up together with little baby Raditz and all that. My OTP is Vegeta and Bulma, but I struggle with those brats lmao. I have found that it's much more enjoyable for me to read about them than to write ;-) I feel like Bardock and Gine you can toy around with more, and VB is so sacred or something lmao and I don't want to taint it with my fingers. Thank you all so much - **nancy103** (idk why I get so happy whenever I see you review something), **borgiabull** , **FireStorm1991** , **acinorev17** , **SSJ God 2 Goku,** and of course the **guests**! You all are something else! :)

BTW - Apologies for this but I know Tora goes by both Tora and Toma! On fanfiction, they have him listed as 'Toma'. But I'll still call him Tora. Because I like that. Lmao. Enjoy!

* * *

"Wake up, Gine. We'll be landing in ten minutes."

The Saiyan female blinked her eyes open to see they were approaching a rather large green planet with white swirls. Her dark orbs widened as the speed of the ship began to increase. Taking off and landing had to be the absolute worse part of it all. "Uhm, Bardock?" she was beginning to sweat; no longer feeling cold but rather burning. "Are you sure we are going to land correctly? What if we die on impact? Or-"

"Gine."

The woman slowly glanced over at the pod next to her while red flashing lights danced across her skin; the computerized voice counting down the minutes. She noticed that for once he wasn't looking at her. Instead, his arms were crossed and his eyes were closed. If she focused in a little more, she could see droplets of sweat on his forehead and she began to wonder if he hated this part as well. "Yes?"

She listened to his breaths struggling to become even; as if talking was making it even harder for him. "Just keep your eyes closed and think of other things."

Gine bit her full lower lip, tilting her head to the side as she began to muse over what could possibly keep her mind off the terrifying rate they were descending at. "Like what, Bardock? I'm too scared to think."

A low growl came through the scouter and she watched as Bardock opened his eyes to glare at her. "You think this is my idea of fun!?" A bead of sweat trickled down his forehead and landed on the bridge of his nose. He didn't even bother to wipe it away; as his hands were clenched tightly on the seats as if he was going to fly away. The duo in the front heard a feminine laughter coming through the transmitter while they stared into each other's eyes.

"The only thing Bardock is afraid of is when we crash these babies into the ground," Fasha laughed a bit louder, and the women heard him snarling. "You bum. How many times have you faced death in battle yet you're terrified of making a crater?"

"I'm not," the messy-haired Saiyan groaned, turning his head away from Gine and resting it against the back of the white seat. "Can't you women just shut up for a minute so I can focus?"

"On what!?" Fasha rolled her eyes and shook her head with a smirk on her face. "You literally have nothing to focus on or do! The ship lands for us! Damn, Bardock. Just relax, will ya? You're scaring poor little Gine... Uh, that's your name, right?"

Bardock cracked an eye open to watch Gine through his peripherals once her charming, wind-like laughter filled his ears. He felt his breathing start to become normal while doing so. "Yup, that's me, alright! I don't believe I ever caught your name..."

"Fasha," the tough woman flashed her shiny teeth as she spoke into the scouter. "And I think it's about damn time I got another female around her to show these boys how it's done."

Gine blushed and lowered her head, fiddling with her thumbs. So Bardock's crew, besides the Saiyan himself, had no idea about her past experiences working under the Planet Trade Organization. She began chuckling nervously, hoping Fasha couldn't see through her lies. "Oh, yeah! You bet, sister!"

"Sister?" Fasha smirked and slapped her knee, feeling amused by the newcomer's choice of words. The male was continuing to watch the woman beside him but was beginning to clench his hands into fists when his partner began to taunt them. "So you went out and got me a sister, eh, Bardock? Doesn't that complicate things?"

His eyes narrowed when Gine glanced over at him. Since he was still watching her through the corner of his eye, she didn't know he was looking right back at her. All she knew was that his breathing sounded normal for once during the countdown. "What the hell do you mean by that?"

Bardock couldn't see her, but he knew Fasha was winking. "Well, if you consider yourself to be my brother, and Gine is my sister, doesn't that mean you guys can't... you know."

"I definitely do not know!" the messy-haired Saiyan fumed, causing Gine to turn an equally crimson color as the sound of the computer echoed through their ears to let them know they only had five minutes left. "And if you keep bothering me, I'll kindly ask for one of those aliens on this planet to eat you!"

Different sounds of laughter came through the scouter, signaling that the others were now awake and ready. Fasha took a deep breath to calm herself down and slouched back into her seat while tapping the eye piece on her face. "Hey, guys. Let's turn these off until we get out so the bossman and my sister can continue their little conversation. And yes, that means you, Tora!"

"Aw man!" a masculine laugh rang through Gine's ears as she was trying hard to make her cheeks return to their alabaster color. "You guys are no fun!"

"Now!"

"Fine..."

The two in the front remained silent for a moment until they realized that the rest of the crew couldn't be heard breathing or chuckling. As the computerized voice warned them about the remaining three minutes, Gine's orbs traveled over to Bardock once more to find her rubbing his temples out of frustration. "What's wrong?" Gine frowned and placed her hand on the glass as if she could comfort him that way. "If it's about what Fasha said, I didn't really understand it... So no worries!" She flashed him her biggest grin, and the glimmer of it caught his attention as he turned his head to fully look at her.

"I'm not frustrated about that."

The woman blinked, feeling confused while the two minute mark hit. "What is it, then?"

Bardock looked at the way her hand looked pressed against the glass, knowing when she removed it the outline would still be there. Her eyes were calling out to him; seemingly begging him to completely drop everything and give in. Of course, that would never happen. How ridiculous would he sound if he told her that he wasn't fearful of crashing anymore the moment he caught sight of her? How embarrassing would it be to admit that he actually needed someone for something? The voice emerging from the pods let them know there was only a minute left as it began counting down the seconds. "Nothing," his eyes remained on her, silent but hiding all the unspoken secrets he would never say. "Nothing."

"...Ten... nine... eight..."

Gine opened her mouth to speak, but found no words as Bardock's orbs continued to enchant her. Their eyes remained locked on each other until the pods went crashing into the ground.

 _ **Welcome to Planet Statreon**_

Tora was the first to emerge, levitating upwards and landing on the green, green grass of the foreign planet. He sighed in relief as he began to stretch; his bones slightly cracking while doing so. "Man, it's about time!" He glanced over his shoulder with a smirk as Fasha landing behind him, brushing herself off and turning her scouter back on. She glared at the giant Saiyan when he didn't do the same.

"Ow!" Tora chuckled when his female partner punched him hard on the shoulder. "What's that for?"

"You never turned off your scouter, did you asshole!?" Fasha glowered and punched him once again; this time in the gut and caused the male to double over although there was still a smirk on his face. "What are you looking so satisfied for, huh!? You know how long I've been trying to get Bardock to mate with someone and you have to go and fuck it all up!"

"Relax, relax!" Tora stood up straight after recovering and raised his palms in front of him to show he meant no harm. "Don't you think I'm trying to do the same? Look, I've heard everything they've said to each other, and I've never heard Bardock sound as pathetic as he did when he talks to her!"

Fasha clasped her hands together; her usual dark eyes brightening up a bit. "Aw! When a Saiyan sounds pathetic, it means they've found their mate! I-" she stopped speaking when Tora placed an arm around and winked. "...What the hell are you doing!?"

"You know," he tried making his voice sound as smooth as possible as Shugesh and Borgos began emerging from their craters. "I recall you sounding pretty pathetic when having a conversation with me the other day..."

Shugesh and Borgos began howling with dark laughter as Fasha punched Tora's jaw and caused him to falter away from her. With a scowl on her face, the tough female warrior stomped away while Tora looked at his companions and shrugged it off. The three men began pummeling each other while Fasha stopped in front of Bardock with a raised eyebrow. "Where's your woman?"

Bardock revealed his fangs, prepared to snap at his longtime friend but realized something was wrong. He tapped in on his scouter to find where she could be, but snarled when there were numerous power levels similar to hers. "Everyone on this damn planet is as strong as she is, perhaps stronger."

Fasha blinked in surprise, but then scratched her head. "Wait... So is that good, or bad? Gine's weak, isn't she?"

"It's bad for her," the leader spoke in a low growl and signaled for the men to come and join them. Obeying, the trio quickly made their way over with raised eyebrows at the tensed up Saiyan. "Just split up and do the normal routine, except keep your eye out of that nuisance." Tora opened his mouth to quip, but could see a hint of worry behind Bardock's dark orbs.

"I'm sure she's fine," Tora nodded and placed a hand on Bardock's shoulder, only to remove it when his commander gave him the death glare. "Maybe you could see if she's still in her ship or something, she could've gotten stuck...But I'll make sure to keep an eye for her." With that, the pony-tailed Saiyan warrior took off with the other members of his crew save Bardock went in different directions to begin their purging. There was no use for the Oozaru transformation, as every inhabitant of this planet was pathetically weak.

But not compared to Gine.

Cursing under his breath, Bardock found the crater beside the one he created and jumped down to land on top of the ship. Underneath the durable glass, he could see Gine chuckling nervously as she struggled with her seat belt. Rolling his eyes, the leader of the low-class crew forced the door of the pod open. He landed on the area between the controls and her seat, facing and glaring down at her. "Are you fucking kidding me? You could have used some of your ki to destroy that, but instead you're wasting time!"

Gine raised a finger and shook her head. "Nuh, uh, uh! If I destroyed it, I wouldn't have one on my way back, now would I?"

Bardock opened his mouth to speak, but quickly shut it with a scowl on his face when he realized Gine was right. The fucking woman was right! Slightly fuming, he looked down at his boots and muttered under his breath. "I guess..."

The damsel in distress watched as her boss, in between the space of her legs, bent down so they were now even in height. Gine blinked a few times, and then blushed at the closeness. He struck his arms out from his sides and placed his large hands on her belt, trying to unhook the clamps while she watched sweat begin to form on his forehead. "See?" she pouted. "It's impossible!"

Bardock continued to struggle with the clamp for about five more minutes until he let out a growl of frustration. He slowly looked up at Gine, who gave him a nervous smile. "I'm going to rip this off you, alright? You can... take my ship on the way back home so you'll be safe." Gine's eyes widened even more when she noticed he was beginning to blush.

"What about you? Won't you be tossed around like a rag doll?"

He smirked and roamed his fingers along her small waist where the seat belt was resting. He didn't take his eyes off it while he spoke. "I think I can manage. I've been in plenty of pods with no belts and I'm still alive."

Unable to hide her smile and thankfulness, Gine extended her arms out to grab Bardock's face with both hands. He immediately froze from her touch and he watched her lips move as she spoke. "You're a sweet man after all, Bardock! I can't believe you'd do that for me... Thank you," she continued to smile as sweetly as she could and rubbed his warm face with her thumbs. "I'll make it all up to you somehow."

Wondering what exactly that meant, Bardock's eyes glazed over with hunger as his fingers pressed against her hips gently. In the background, he could hear the battle already beginning. The blood curdling screams were coming from the Stratreon warriors and not his crew, as expected. "I'm contemplating on letting you stay in here until it's all over," he smirked when she pouted and removed her hands from his face to cross her arms over her chest. "But that would only leave you vulnerable. So you're coming with me, but I swear if you leave my site I'll snap your little twig body in half."

Gine raised an eyebrow, noticing his hands were all up on her little twig body. "Then why are you holding me like this?" Her eyes widened in shock as she felt herself being lifted up; the sound of material ripping and signaling that she was free from the seat belt. He flung her over his shoulder and he began levitating up with a smug grin on his face while she pounded on his back. "Jerk! You could've let me know that's what you were trying to do!"

Ignoring her, Bardock picked up a signal on his scouter not too far from where they were. None of his crew members were in that direction; the area was full of Stratreon warriors just waiting for the invading Saiyans. Flying towards them, Gine continued to pound on his back with tiny fists. "Hey! Have you forgotten that I can fly!?"

"Be quiet."

"Rude!" Gine huffed and pouted for the nth time. Before long, Bardock landed behind a boulder and threw Gine down on the grass. She opened her mouth to holler at him again, but he placed a finger on his lips to silence her.

"Listen," his voice was a whisper as he knelt down beside her to raise her chin up with his index finger. "Just beyond this rock, there's an army of warriors. I need you to sit here and not move a muscle, or your trap, ya got that?"

Sighing, Gine fell onto her back with a thud and stared up at the strange orange colored sky that was thick with clouds. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll wait here." Once she closed her eyes, Bardock jumped onto the rock and began firing ki blasts repeatedly. The woman's eyes quickly flashed open when the painful, dying screams emerged from the battle field. Getting to her feet, she placed herself behind the boulder and peaked out to see a village entirely decimated. Their homes, their shops, their everything - gone and in ruin. Gine felt her heart crash into her stomach as she realized none of those creatures were warriors at all, but innocent victims torn and striped of their lives by the hands of one man. With disgust in her eyes, Gine glared up at Bardock whose eyes were focused on a single child who had miraculously survived the brutal attack. He raised a hand in the air, the green orb of light beginning to form as he was aiming it at the child. "How dare you, you- you monster! He's just a little boy!"

The Stratreons were eerily similar to the Saiyans; resembling them in every way except their hair color wasn't black. It varied, in form as well. The child, however, had black hair that was spiked up and it ached Gine's heart; for she didn't see a Stratreon, she saw a Saiyan. Her own blood, even, trembling with fear. Bardock glowered down at her for speaking and proceeded to snarl. "What did I tell you about following orders!? Just keep your mouth shut and look away since you're too weak to stomach it!"

"No!" Gine barked, slightly surprising Bardock as she raised her chest. "Forgot the orders! This is wrong! It's all wrong, and you know it, too!" Without taking another second to hear his response, Gine charged out into the battlefield and stood in front of the little boy. She spread her arms out and glared at Bardock, still ontop of the boulder with his eye twitching.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, you idiot! Get out of the way! He's a goddamn trap!"

"Make me!"

Picking up power levels beginning to emerge from the trees surrounding them, Bardock charged towards Gine to get her out of the way but he was too late. The woman was being held hostage by a much older Stratreon man wearing a ghost mask. He had his large arm wrapped tightly around her neck, while pointing some kind of fiery weapon to her head. A group of twenty others had their weapons aimed at her as well. "Bardock..." she began to weep quietly, only causing the man to tighten his grip painfully more. "Help me..."

All Bardock could see was red, but her quiet plea was all he needed to snap. Appearing record fast behind the Stratreon warrior who had Gine, Bardock snapped his neck and managed to get Gine out of the way before the others could singe her with their fire. Rising up into the air so he could overlook them all, the Saiyan warrior began charging a blast with one arm while holding Gine with the other. She was crying into his chest, not wanting to see them die. Although they had intended to kill her, but couldn't help but feel pain for them all.

With a loud scream, Bardock sent his energy blast pummeling down to the warriors who were shooting at him. Gine kept her eyes closed until the painful yells ended. Once she opened them, she didn't even bother to look down. Instead, she glanced up at Bardock with watery eyes. "You saved me... But..." She couldn't help but cry endlessly into his chest. All her leader could do was hold her tighter as he began heading in the direction of where he was sensing Tora finishing up his battle.

For the first time in his life, he felt guilty.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/n** : You guys are too cute lmao. Thank you all for reviewing and keeping up with this side story of mine. My top priority is finishing up my other story, Walking Towards the Sunset, but this will be updated often :-) Just never the same day as WTTS is. Lmao. I hate leaving stories unfinished; so hopefully, I am doing a good job with updating.

Enjoy!

* * *

"Either Bardock's hanging out with one of these aliens," Tora chuckled as his scouter was picking up two power levels not too far from where Fasha and himself were standing over a pile of dead Stratreonians. He kicked a body out of the way as they made their way to the ground. "Or he found Gine."

Fasha smirked, aiming her energy tipped finger at the bodies. Within a couple of flicks, there was nothing left before them. "At this point, I really don't care who he mates with. More of us need to start having offspring before the whole damn population is wiped out!" When Tora raised an eyebrow, the short-haired female rolled her eyes. " _Don't_ even think about it."

"Alright, alright!" he chuckled shortly to himself and brushed off his armor. "I'm just saying, you're so concerned about Bardock having a child and you're only getting older..." Tora ignored the warning glare. "So why don't you go for it? Unless you think there's someone else..." Somehow, he managed to dodge the same energy blast she had used earlier to get rid of the bodies. While the ponytailed male stood in front of her and continued to tease, their scouters began to pick up two unknown, yet weak, power levels coming from their landing site.

"Who the hell do you think that is?" Fasha glowered, looking off in the distance where their ships were. "You'd think all these pests would be dead by now!"

Tora growled under his breath, not taking any risks. "I don't know, but it's not good. Come on!"

Flying through the sky at a lightening fast speed, the two warriors of Bardock's crew scanned the area as they were approaching their pods. To their horror and frustration, two Statreonians warriors with brown hair had finished destroying two ships and were getting ready to kill another. Wasting no time, Fasha landed behind the shorter of the two and snapped his neck. His friend, frozen in terror, could only hold the fiery weapon he had used to ruin their ships up high but with no movement. Tora came down hard on the orange-clad warrior with two fists, instantly killing the weakling on impact.

Landing on his feet beside Fasha, he spat on the ground in disgust. "Pathetic."

"Yeah, well, they still did their damage!" the woman snarled and motioned to the two destroyed pods. "How the hell are all of us going to get home!? Only one person can fit inside a ship!"

"I know," Tora sighed and shook his head. "I know."

The two remained silent for a moment, veins of frustration not hiding themselves on their foreheads. Picking up their leader's power, it wasn't until Tora caught sight of Bardock levitating towards them with Gine in his arms that gave him the best idea he believed he ever had. "Hey, Fasha," he whispered into her ear as she kept her sight on her suspicious looking leader and longtime friend. "I've got a great idea. Just follow my lead, okay?"

Fasha glanced at him through her peripherals, but nodded as Bardock landed directly in front of them. The scar-faced Saiyan dropped Gine on her feet, and the woman immediately turned her back to her other members so they couldn't see her tears. Bardock was already in full-on scowl, pissed off mode, having caught sight of the wrecked ships from the sky. "What the hell happened here!?"

Tora struggled to keep his sly smile off his face as he patted Bardock on the back. "Hey, no big deal. Some of those freaks ruined two ships, but you know how we have that large rescue one back at the launch site... Two of us just need to stay here until we come back to get them. And I've been thinking," he winked at Fasha, whose eyebrows were raised just as high as Bardock's while Gine's ears perked up a bit. "The leader is never allowed to abandon his crew, am I right? It goes against all regulations. You'll need to stay."

"I already figured that," Bardock shrugged, no longer interested as he pushed Tora's hand away. "Go ahead and call Shugesh and Borgos over here. Let them know that we're staying. Fasha, I'm counting on you to-"

"Whoa!" Tora raised his hands in the air immediately. "No way! Gine is going to stay."

"What!?" Bardock growled while Gine hunched over a little more, embarrassed that the second in command would even recommend such a thing. After seeing how violent he was, the poor woman wanted nothing to do with him or being a soldier anymore. "Are you going against my orders?"

"Stop," Tora laughed and patted his angry friend's back once more. "You're not that kind of guy, Bardock. Come on, just let Gine stay here with you. Maybe you can toughen her up a bit or something. You really want to be stuck with anyone else?" Bardock immediately glanced over at Fasha, who shook her head.

"Sorry," she smirked and placed her hands on her hips. "The rescue center is only going to listen to Tora, and I need to be there so he won't sound like an idiot. You have Shugesh who will most likely eat you, or Borgos whose face will give you nightmares. If I were you, I'd stay with the girl you were holding earlier." The two sneaks began chuckling when Bardock started to fume. Tora looked beyond the messy-haired Saiyan to the near doubled-over female trying to hide her face from them.

"Is that alright, Gine!? Not that you have a choice, though!"

The female sighed a ragged breath, and slowly brought herself up right again. She turned around, hoping her face wasn't tear stained anymore, and flashed a thumbs up to the tall Saiyan with a sad smile. "Yeah. Sure. Totally fine."

Once Shugesh and Borgos arrived, Bardock turned his attention to the sullen female while the rest of his crew began discussing what was going to happen. "Look, I'm not happy about this, either. But now, you're definitely going to listen to me. Got it? Those warriors could be hiding out somewhere, and I'm not going to have to deal with a dead body to bring back home." His scowl deepened when Gine wasn't looking at him. "Did you hear me? I said-"

"I know what you said!" Gine snapped, causing an awkward silence to grow among the crew as they all looked at the small woman in shock. Their eyes continued to widen when she jabbed Bardock's chest with her finger. "As far as I'm concerned, with them gone, you have no crew and you're no leader! And definitely no leader of mine! I'll meet you back here whenever they get back. For now, just stay out of my sight!" With a huff, the sudden feisty woman crossed her arms over her chest and began walking away without another look back.

Tora was the first to snap out of the shock, and whistled loudly while Bardock's eye began to twitch. "Well, this should be interesting. See you as soon as possible, Bardock! And please, don't kill each other!" The messy haired Saiyan didn't watch them get into the remaining four pods, but knew it as soon as the laughter had ceased that he was going to be alone on this green planet with the little Gine until his crew rescued them.

He took a step forward in the direction where Gine's back was beginning to disappear.

 _Don't do it._

Another.

 _Don't you fucking do it!_

Bardock cursed under his breath while his crew had already launched themselves into the deep blue sky. "Hey!" he shouted, and saw that the woman had stopped and was glancing over her shoulder. "Just... Just wait."

* * *

"My legs hurt. I'm hungry. Why are we walking around like this? There's nothing here; you killed everyone and everything. We're going to die out here, aren't we?" Gine was pouting her biggest pout, but this time, Bardock wasn't interested in it. In fact, he wanted to wipe it clean off her face. They had found a forest region among the desolate planet and were wandering aimlessly through it in silence until Gine began to whine.

"Flying will waste energy; we need to be alert at all times no matter what. If you could just shut your trap for a moment, I'll find us something to eat. And you'll either kill me by your annoying little voice, or I'll murder you first," he glared over his shoulder at her with his black brows furrowed. "Did I answer all your questions?"

When his little companion stuck her tongue out at him, he smirked and turned his attention back to the front. He yawned loudly, causing the black birds in the trees to flap their wings away from the Saiyans as quickly as they could. Gine gasped loudly, reaching a hand out to rapidly tap Bardock's shoulder. When he turned around to face her, he rolled his eyes at the way she was jumping up and down and pointing at the flying animals.

"Ooh! Ooh! We can eat them, can't we?"

"No," Bardock scoffed and then gestured to trees to their right. "Just beyond those, there's a small field with deer. Smells delicious, doesn't it?" Gine's eyes widened in horror as the male grabbed her wrist and began pulling her towards the direction he was speaking of.

"You can't kill deer, Bardock! That's wrong!"

"Oh, shut up! You wanted to kill those birds," he grunted as she began digging her boots into the ground to stop him. "It's the same fucking thing, just tastier." He snarled loudly when she began to cry, and threw her over his shoulder while she began wailing louder in hopes of scaring the deer away.

"There are plenty of birds on this planet and not enough deer!" she cried out while pounding on his back. "Please, don't!"

Bardock threw her down on the ground with a loud thud, causing Stratreon to slightly shake. He knelt down beside her, holding her chin up to he could look into her reddening eyes. "You do realize that you'd be dead without me, right?" He searched his eyes, hoping to find fear in her wide orbs but only discovering sadness. The same damn orbs that caused his chest to ache with guilt earlier. He cleared his throat to make his voice sound rougher, more fearsome. "You wanted food, you'll get food. Just stay here and don't do anything."

"Bardock..." she cupped his face in her hands and frowned while sniffing twice. "Why can't you be a good man? Why do you always have to be so mean?"

"Let. Go."

"All the Saiyans do is show their brutality and hope it impresses those they seek to please. If you really want to impress me, why don't you show those deer some mercy?"

Bardock's eye began to twitch for the nth time around this dainty woman; and he could feel his face becoming hot under her touch. He wasn't sure if he was on the verge of a blush, or about to snap her in half. "I'm not trying to please you," he spoke through clenched teeth. "You don't mean anything at all to me. You never will."

"If that's true," Gine pressed, her orbs full of determination that was overpowering anything his could ever throw at her. "Then why did you save me in the first place?"

Cursing under his breath, he shoved her hands away from his face and disappeared through the trees to leave Gine on the ground, alone with her thoughts and hopes.

* * *

The two stranded Saiyans sat across from each other, one wearing a frown and one wearing the biggest grin that one could ever don. In between them was a fire, started by a mixture of their energy and some logs.

"I'm proud of you."

"Hn."

Gine giggled over the blazes, some of the sparks flickering out and dying in the air. The flames illuminated the features of Bardock greatly from her point of view, accentuating his frustrations. It was true, that the woman had found her leader better looking than any other male she had ever encountered in her lifetime, but after what he did, she couldn't help but have her eyes light up as bright as the fire when she looked at him.

Still, there was something inside of her warning not to reach out and hold him. So, she decided to reach for something else. Picking up the stick with some meat on the ends, she pointed it at Bardock.

"More crow on the cob?"


	5. Chapter 5

"I can't believe this planet has rainstorms like Vegeta," Gine shouted, following behind Bardock as the droplets fell down harder and harder with every inch they took. Their armor was soaked along with their skin, and Gine was surprised to see that her leader's hair was still remaining in its same messy style. "You know, Bardock, you really do have some interesting hair. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it."

The male glanced over his shoulder with narrowed eyes, only to see that the woman had a look of sincerity in her large orbs that should be illegal. He noticed that the downfall had caused her spiked down hair to appear much longer; and the droplets on her face were giving it a softer look than it already was. "Is that a bad thing?"

"No," Gine smiled and caught a glimpse of the male smirking before he turned his attention back to the front. "Where are you taking us, anyway? It's not like you know Stratreon like the back of your hand." She watched his shoulders shake slightly in curiosity, realizing that he was laughing.

"You'd be surprised by how many things I can remember," Bardock simple said and came to a halt. Gine crashed into his back, not prepared for it. "I saw a cave near the village we encountered earlier. It's right up there."

Gine followed his finger and frowned. Through the rain, she could see an open space on top of a mountain. "So, are we flying up there or what?" When Bardock gave her a look, she huffed. "Can you take me?"

"What!?" the male snapped, looking at his little annoyance before taking flight. "Don't you know how to fly?"

The woman rubbed her arms, beginning to become cold from the storm. Not even Bardock's glare could warm her up. "Yes, but..." her frown deepened. "I'm too scared to go up there. What if lightening strikes me down?"

"Are you made of metal?"

"Maybe."

Bardock rubbed the bridge of his nose, muttering profanities under his breath that Gine couldn't understand. The sound of thunder crackling was becoming louder, muffling out his voice and causing the poor woman to become even more terrified. She had always been fearful of the storms on Planet Vegeta, but Stratreon's seemed much worse and much more violent.

Gine sighed, fiddling with her thumbs and trying to find something to say when she realized Bardock wasn't speaking. "Listen, I- OOF!" Her croak was cut off when she felt gravity sweep her off her feet and sling her over a Herculean shoulder. Her orbs widened in shock as the muddy ground beneath them was disappearing. "What are you doing?"

"Carrying you," he grunted. "What else could I possibly be doing!?"

Gine huffed; her breasts not feeling too great being squished against his hard shoulder. "If you wanted to carry me, why couldn't you do it in a charming way like a knight and hold me bridal style?"

"What!?" she heard his husky voice snap back. "Why in the hell would I do that!?" Bardock waited for her answer, but shook his head and focused on the approaching cave when she remained silent. She certainly was something else. Unable to explain exactly happened next, the something-else-of-a-woman had her legs wrapped around his torso and was giggling uncontrollable. She leaned her head a bit forward so that her wet locks slapped him in the face.

"Ooh!" she cheered with more laughter. "I like this so much better!"

Slicking the wet strands of Gine's off his face with the back of his thumb, Bardock began to mutter. "Why are you cackling like a hyena now?"

"I'm sorry," Gine tried to control herself, taking a deep breath as they landed on the surface before the cave's entrance. "It's just been forever since I've gotten a piggyback ride! My dad use to give them to me all the time!" She crawled off the Saiyan male's back and smiled warmly at him when he turned around to face her with inquisitive eyes and furrowed brows.

"... Piggyback ride?"

Gine blinked, and asked innocently, "You don't know what that means, Bardock?"

"No," the scar-faced one scoffed. "But judging by that idiotic name, it sounds like you've come up with it." Ignoring her pout, Bardock scanned the cave for any signs of life. When detecting nothing, he entered and was expecting to hear the squishing sound of tiny boots following him. When he didn't, he groaned and turned around to Gine still stuck in a pout.

"Get in the cave," he called. "Or you're going to die."

"Not until you apologize." Gine crossed her arms over her chest and looked away; the droplets at the end of her wet strands flinging to the ground.

"For what!?" the male snapped and only grew angrier when he didn't respond. "If you think I have something to apologize for after everything I've done for you today, you're sadly mistaken. Now, get in the cave!"

The woman had her nose turned up, but she slowly looked away from a soaked boulder in the distance to face him. Her eyes scanned him over; noticing that his chest was heaving up and down as if he was trying hard to control his anger, or he was exhausted. Either way, Gine couldn't help but feel sorry for her leader. As strong as he was, he most certainly wasn't happy and she had no clue as to why when there was so much beauty to life. "Fine."

Bardock blinked as the squishing sound of the tiny boots against the muddy ground became louder as she approached him. "Seriously?"

"Yes," Gine smiled, noticing that his previous throbbing veins had disappeared the instant she joined his side. "You're completely right, Bardock. I've given you a hard time today, and I'm sorry. Let's just try and get some rest now, alright?"

The male watched with a twitching eye as she yawned and used some of her ki as a flashlight to find her way through the dark void. He knew for as long as he lived, he would never understand women. With a deep sigh and rub of his neck, Bardock followed behind her into their temporary home.

* * *

Claiming to be afraid of the dark, Bardock had gathered logs to set on fire only to find Gine was fast asleep upon reentry. "She bitches and moans for this and now she's snoring," he muttered, still creating the fire anyway and watching the flames flicker. "I just don't get her."

"I'm still awake, jerk!" she snapped, not opening her eyes but her brows were scrunched up in anger. "I was just trying to trick you!"

"Tell me something," he mused, watching the fire illuminate the features on her face. Her wet bangs were framing her face, but her skin had dried away the previous drops. Bardock was freshly soaked after gathering logs for the princess. "What you mentioned earlier, about that piggyback bull shit. Your father. Was he as weak as you?"

Gine cracked open an eye to smile sadly up at Bardock, only to find him watching her. "No. He was sweet. You can be both, you know. Sweet and strong."

Ignoring her statement, Bardock kept his orbs fixed on her. The light of the fire was dancing across them; and underneath it was the image of the woman he was looking at. "You must have been close to him to have a memory that caused you to laugh like that."

His words caused Gine to sit up straight, wringing out her hair as the excess water dripped to the cold ground. Frowning, she said, "You don't have a memory with your father that makes you happy?"

Bardock shrugged, watching a droplet trickle down her neck and remain on her collar bone. "And why would I ever show an emotion like that? To look like a weakling? Please."

"I feel so sad for you," Gine spoke earnestly, her voice in a soft whisper. "Do you like anything?"

"Deer."

"Oh, shut up. You know what I mean."

Bardock turned his attention way from the inquisitive little female to look at the entrance of the cave. The rain continued to pour down; proving to be a long lasting storm. "I like the rain," he said finally, keeping his eyes on it. "I've actually... come to depend on it."

Shocked by his confession, Gine held her hand to her heart and cleared her voice that was beginning to waver. "What do you mean by that?"

The Saiyan smirked, and then his expression turned serious. "I feel like it drowns my sorrows in ways nothing else can. You think I don't remember a life before Frieza?" he closed his eyes tightly while the woman watching him felt her heart aching. "I wait for the storm to come. It releases its thunder like my rage and its lightening is like my memories that are gone too soon in a flash. I feel...synchronized with the storm. We are the same."

Gine watched breathlessly as droplets of rain began running down his neck, and the rain that was dripping from his fingers. She suddenly felt jealous of the rain; wanting to be the drops that must be lingering on his back. The man who claimed to have no emotions just confessed something he was holding in, and still, he remained a mystery. One that she could never be close enough to. The rainstorm had to be a representation of his unshed tears of pain, ones that would never ever be shown to anyone.

Not even himself.

Bardock opened his mouth to tell the woman it was time to sleep, but felt two cold hands cupping his face and forcing him to look at the owner. He blinked in silence at the proximity of Gine. He watched as her orbs studied the scar on his face, and he could tell she wanted to know how he got it. She wanted to know everything, at least what he could give her, so she could help him realize that life was, in fact, beautiful enough to find a sense of happiness somewhere amidst all the darkness.

Most of all, she wanted to feel his lips on hers.

Just as the longing that Bardock had felt ever since seeing those lips pout became unbearable, the warmth of his mouth had sent a current running through Gine's body. Her hands dropped from his face and her arms wrapped around his neck as she felt herself becoming lost.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N** : Thank you guys for all the kind support! I felt a bit nervous that I am rushing their interactions, but hopefully you guys are thinking otherwise! Ah, I love these two.

* * *

The cave had grown silent.

A little too silent, in Bardock's opinion.

After the small woman had pulled away, the scarred Saiyan had looked away in embarrassment at being caught off-guard for the first time since he was a child. He didn't even want to look at her big doe eyes pleading to him for more secrets; more unguarded moments. He stood up despite her motionless protests and began wandering the mountain area. The storm had finally ended, but raindrops still lingered on the tips of the grass and would surely be frosted over due to Stratreon's unusual freezing night after a hot day.

Finding a large rock, the grumpy former leader of his current non-existant crew, who were probably laughing their asses off about leaving him behind with Gine, looked up at the numerous stars. They were illuminated against the dark sky; and Bardock concluded that perhaps Stratreon, despite its weaklings, was a decent planet.

Absentmindedly, the male touched his lip and then growled lowly realizing that the sensation of before that came from _her_ still lingered there. "Son of a bitch..."

"Baaaaardock... Bardock! Hello?!"

Feeling relief wash over him upon hearing the sound of his right hand man, Bardock spoke into the scouter. "Where the hell is that ship, Tora?"

"Relax!" the tall Saiyan laughed loudly. "We aren't even back home yet to get it. It's only been a couple of hours, ya know."

Bardock grimaced as if the news physical hurt him. "Dammit, Tora! If I stay here any longer, I'm going to go insane."

"About that," even though Bardock couldn't see him, he knew his friend was winking and looking like an idiot. "I heard a...strange sound not too long ago. Maybe the reason you're so pissy is because I'm interrupting something...?" The scarred one fumed when the sound of his entire crew's laughter came through the transmitter. He stood up and stomped his foot like a petulant child not getting his way.

"This is why I keep this stupid shit off half the time!" he snarled, prepared to press the button. "Goodbye now, dumbass-"

"Bardock, wait!" Tora chuckled, and then lowered his voice in a soothing manner so he wouldn't upset his leader and friend any further. "Listen, I'll actually be glad if I was interrupting something. Don't you think out of every Saiyan there is left, that you need to start bringing a son to Planet Vegeta? You just mate up and leave, I'm not asking you to give your life to the damn girl. She's pretty good-lookin', too, so that's a bonus."

"...You're an idiot." With the thoughts he was imagining now, Bardock was an idiot, too.

"Listen, Bardock!" Fasha pressed this time, trying to sound as convincing as possible. "Out of all of us, you work the hardest. You fight the hardest. You deserve to have some fun every now and then... I know you don't know what that word even means, but just give it a try. You'll get a child out of it, and then you can go back to your usual ways. What do you say?"

While Bardock slightly began to turn red and remained silent, Tora's voice overpowered Fasha's. "Think of it as a challenge! Come on, man, are you not up for the challenge!? Can the all mighty Bardock not conquer a woman for a night!?"

"THAT'S IT!" the leader snarled, removing his scouter off his face and dropping it on the ground. He could hear his crew begging him for to come back as he walked away from the device, making a mental note to pick it up in a few hours when they entered stasis during their travel. The grumpy Saiyan continued to mutter profanity under his breath while he marched his way back to the cave, prepared to yell at the skinny female for her little stunt that she pulled earlier.

"GINE!" he yelled, coming up to the entrance but his voice was sure loud enough for her to hear. "I don't know what the hell those idiots told you, but I am one hundred percent, absolutely, COMPLETELY positive that I do not want to mate or have anything to do with you! Do you hear me!? LADY, I SAID DID YOU HEAR ME!?"

A strange feeling began forming in Bardock's stomach when there was no voice responding to him. Entering the cave, he blinked at the sight of the fire flickering but no Gine. "Pain. In. My. Ass."

* * *

Gine was watching a rather large deer enjoy his midnight snack of wet grass through a bush, and taking deep breaths while fiddling with her thumbs. "It's okay, it's okay Gine. He's.. He's full grown!" she began smiling, trying hard to convince herself what she was doing was right. "Yeah, he's lived a full life! I'm sure he won't mind ending it.."

The woman sweatdropped and lowered her head in shame, realizing what she was thinking and believing herself to be insane for doing this. Her thoughts brought her back to her conversation with Bardock in the cave; how he mentioned besides storms that he liked deer, and perhaps eating it would make him happier than her kiss.

Gine groaned and lowered her head even further, feeling embarrassed for what she had done. He didn't even seem to have enjoyed it; that look he was giving her was just awful when she pulled away! "I've got to redeem myself somehow," she began talking to herself, not noticing the figure that was behind her since she always had her scouter off. "Alright, ol' girl, go get him."

Letting out a small war cry and imagining herself to actually be in some sort of great war, she ran out of the bush like a mad woman and charged at the surprised animal. The deer began sprinting away, but Gine even amazed herself when she was able to keep up with his fast speed. Sprinting into the air, she wrapped her dainty arms around the animal and was expected to bring it down.

What should have been an easy task turned into some sort of Saiyan-deer wrestling match.

The deer had stopped, seemingly smirking at the now terrified woman as it began swinging his head wildly around to try and knock her off. "You don't understand!" Gine cried out. "Bardock needs to eat you to forgive me! You lived a good life; look how strong you are!" When the animal just wouldn't stop, Gine began to sweat as she swung herself around its neck, ending up on its back.

And then, it was off again.

"No! No!" she closed her eyes tightly, starting to feel nauseous. She wasn't in the mood for deer-back riding. She wasn't even in the mood to get food for Bardock as a peace offering anymore. Gine's little arms were wrapped around the deer's neck so she wouldn't fall off the crazy ride. "Please stop! I'll leave you alone!"

When the deer actually came to an abrupt stop, Gine blinked her eyes open slowly to see Bardock standing in front of them. "Uh..." she began turning crimson. "Hi..."

"Get off the damn deer, Gine."

Reluctantly, the woman listened. She knew the male was going to blast the poor animal, but she didn't want to be on his bad side anymore. Pouting, Gine walked away from the deer and wanted for one his ki blasts to cook it on the spot while it began darting away. Her eyes followed it in amazement, realizing that it had disappeared without meeting death. Trying to get over her momentary shock, she turned her attention to Bardock who had his arms crossed over his chest with a raised eyebrow aimed at her.

"Bardock..." she placed a hand on her beating heart; secretly beginning to feel annoyed that it did it so much whenever he showed some rare mercy. "Why didn't you kill him?"

"You looked like you were having too much fun," he simply shrugged and then a slow smirk grew across his face when she began stomping her foot in anger. "You already mentioned you didn't have any friends, I couldn't kill the only one you're probably going to ever have."

"Gee, thanks!" she stuck her tongue out at him and immediately put it back with a blush on her face, realizing that he had enough of her tongue for the night. "What are you even doing here, you-you jerk!" Her blush grew even more when he closed the distance between them; even went as far as to flick her nose. Flick her nose!

Bardock blocked her fingers from doing the same to his and spoke in an exhausted, gruff voice. "Look, I warned you about leaving my sight and you nearly got yourself killed. I'm a bit over the whole cave scene," he looked away from the fuming female to observe the cold, fresh smelling and wide open field underneath the starry night sky and already began to feel relaxed. "Why don't we just sleep here? I promise I'll snap the neck of any deer that tries taking you away again."

Throwing her hands in the air as a sign that she just wasn't having it tonight, Gine proceeded to bring herself to the grass and sprawl out on her back. She expected her moody leader to disappear about fifty feet away, but she gasped when she felt the hot skin of his bare arm touching hers. He wasn't even giving her an inch! "What in the heck do you think you're doing, mister!?"

"Resting."

Glaring at the smug man through her peripherals, she noticed her was using his arms as a pillow and was chewing on a piece of grass. "I hope that has pesticides in it and you get very, very sick."

Bardock snorted in response and the Saiyans fell into silence while watching the stars twinkle in the magic way they do. Hearing the breathing of the woman beside him begin to fall into a rhythmic pattern, he figured she was asleep or at least to the point where she didn't know what was going on around her. "Remember how you asked me that bullshit about having a happy memory with my father?"

Nothing but the sound of crickets chirping responded to him, letting him know it was okay to continue.

"Before Frieza came into the picture, my father took years to train me in the arts of the hunt and warfare," Bardock smirked, remembering how he hunted through frozen wastelands and barren desserts alongside the older version of him. "We would go together on an annual hunt to symbolize the death of my childhood and birth of becoming a man. It wasn't until I went on it alone that I was deemed an elite warriors. At least, among my group of Saiyans. Eventually, I learned how to kill with my bare hands without any use of ki, picking up on new and stronger ways to fight on each battlefield."

"...That's beautiful..." her voice was slurred, but caused a strange sensation to run through him. Bardock propped himself on on his elbow so he could look down at the sleeping woman, noticing that there was slight drool coming out of the corners of her mouth. Her hair was tangled and frizzy from the rain, and her alabaster skin was painted with mud and bug bites.

"Yes," Bardock whispered, brushing a strand of her air off her forehead with his thumb. "It is..."

 _You deserve to have some fun every now and then!_

Fasha's words were growing even more tempting by the minute, but the alpha male managed to shake it off as he brought himself back down on the ground. He _did_ deserve to have some fun, but not with the wrong woman. The weak woman, who had made him feel strange ever since they first met. Rolling his eyes at his shameful self, he turned over on his side and closed his eyes tightly.

Only to reopen them when he felt two dainty arms wrap around his torso and a cold nose was pressed against his neck. "...Goodnight, Bardock..." she yawned and smacked her lips a couple of times. "I'll make you crow on the cob in the morning."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N** : Little warning; there is some sexual content (male's anatomy is mention at the end of this chapter) but nothing that would bump the rating up to M. I promise whatever it is, it's done in a tasteful way lmao. I hope. I just wanted to warn those who are sensitive to that sort of thing, because this isn't 'that type' of story.

Thank you :-)

* * *

Tora and Fasha wandered down the rows of the tents where the rest of the low class Saiyans lived. A small group that had returned from their mission as well were celebrating by a bonfire; beckoning for the two to join them. The male of the duo raised his hand and shook his head in a respectful gesture of 'no thanks', while Fasha rolled her eyes.

"They're acting like they fought the battle of their lives," she remarked, and stuck her tongue out in disgust when the drunkest one of the group began giving her catcalls. The woman unknowingly brought herself closer to Tora's side, causing the tall Saiyan to smirk. "Ugh. Do you see why I refuse to mate with any of these barbarians? My son would come out as dumb as a rock."

Tora chuckled darkly while the drunk started getting louder and more obscene with his remarks; even began following them on their way to the launching site. The male glanced over his shoulder to see the short, long-haired warrior waving his fist in the air and begging for Fasha to kiss him. "You want me to blast him or something?"

"Sadly no," Fasha sighed. "You'll probably end up killing him and there goes another one of our kind. Just put your arm around me or something; pretend your my mate." The two both turned crimson simultaneously; Fasha cursing under her breath while Tora took a mental note to brag about this to Bardock later.

"Don't worry, lil' lady, the man of your dreams has your back!" Another grunt of disgust escape the pink clad female as Tora placed his hand on her hip to draw her close. He kept it there even after the drunk cried out that his woman was cheating on him and ran back to the bonfire to drown his sorrows away with the universe's strongest liquor and whatever meat they were burning.

When his hand began to tighten, Fasha fumed. "Alright jackass," she seethed. "You can let go now."

Tora laughed loudly while releasing his hold. He crossed his arms over his chest as they came to a stop in front of the launching site, where one of the giant rescue ships was calling their names. He whistled, "Whew! What a beauty, eh?"

Once they closed the distance, Fasha ran her hand down the shiny white metal and nodded in agreement. "How many seats does this one have?"

The male had to stifle his laughter when he realized Fasha was too short to see through the windows. "Hm... Four?"

"Perfect," the woman smirked, and one hand on her hip while she used her fingers on the other to whistle at the green-skinned alien who was the shift leader at the moment. "Yo, we'd like some help over here!"

The little creature was secretly terrified of the Saiyans; never understanding why he took the job so close to the tents of the most savage ones. Trying to ignore his trembling, he cleared his throat to speak to the outspoken woman. "Y-Yes?"

She pounded her fist against the huge piece of machinery. "Me and my partner here need to use this to rescue our leader and crew member that are stranded. Pop this baby open and launch us to Planet Statreon!"

The green man looked into the ferocious eyes of Fasha, followed by the narrowed ones of Tora, and gulped. He decided that he didn't want today to be the day that he died. "A-Alright, s-sure. Just give me one moment, and..." he blinked when Fasha's expression suddenly softened. "Uh... You can go save your crew members."

"Was that so hard?" she winked, placing a hand on his cheek that turned the green man red. When she noticed it, she laughed cruelly and drew her hand away. She considered smacking him for the hell of it, but decided not to press her luck. The alien creature hurriedly made his way back to the control panel without giving the Saiyans another look.

Tora shook his head when he watched the hatch open. "You're some piece of work, lady."

"Eh," she shrugged, hopping in and was quickly followed by her partner. "I learned from the best."

* * *

"Why aren't you talking to me!?" Gine whined, watching with her knees pulled up to her chest as Bardock was doing push ups with a scowl on his face. "All I said was that a little grooming never hurt anybody!"

When all the male did was grunt for his response, the female sighed and lowered her head with slightly pink cheeks. After falling asleep nestled closely to Bardock's messy hair, she got a good whiff of its unpleasant smell. She felt horrible now for an innocent comment turned insult, but self consciously began to wonder if she had the same terrible scent and her boss was too kind to say anything.

Cue the eye roll. Of course not. He would tell her straight up.

Gine continued to watch as the sweat began to roll off Bardock's back. He was now using two fingers on either hand to support himself, and was too focused on his workout to notice anything else. Giving the unknowing male a sly smile, she began doing back flips towards him and didn't stop until the heels of her boots were directly on his shoulder blades and her hands were resting on the grass for support.

"Helloooo!"

Frozen mid push-up, Bardock furrowed his black brows together and glared down at the upside down woman; whose hair ends were touching the ground while her eyes focused on his. His forehead was pressed against her small torso. "Don't you have some deer to go ride? Get the hell out of here; I'm busy."

"I noticed something when we were flying above everything earlier," she continued, ignoring the deadly glares generating from his hardened orbs. "A river... Now, I'm not tryin' to tell you anything, but I really could use a bath."

"Yeah, you could," he snorted, causing the woman looking at him to fume. "I was going to wait for you to find it out for yourself." He lifted up one hand that shoved her away from him. Gine landed gently on her back, still scowling as Bardock got to his feet and offered her a hand.

"No way!" she stuck out her tongue. "You're a big jerk! You didn't have to push me like that!"

"Look, you little pain in my ass. If you take my hand, I'll take you the lake."

That sealed the deal.

* * *

"We have to take off all our armor if we really want to get clean," Gine frowned, slightly blushing and trying hard not to look at Bardock's reaction. "Is that fine?"

The male smirked, already removing his wristbands. "Fine. Just don't look at me."

"DON'T LOOK AT ME!" she huffed, and the two Saiyans turned their backs on one another. As each began removing a piece, the clanking sound of it hitting the ground caused them to look over their shoulders at each other. When their eyes locked, they both scowled.

"Don't look at me!"

Gine was still holding the top piece of her armor over her bare chest shyly, while Bardock had already jumped into the clear lake that was glistening even more so due to the morning sunshine. She observed in quite awe as she dipped himself completely underwater; only to come back up and shake his now wet hair around. He raised an eyebrow when he noticed her illegally large orbs, and groaned.

"If I turn my back, will you stop stalking and just come in already?"

The woman growled lowly, but was relieved when she actually saw Bardock's back muscles. Taking a deep breath, she placed her armor on the grass and slowly dipped her toe in. "EEK!" she yelped. "It's freezing!"

"No it's not!" the male scoffed. "You're just too scrawny!"

"But Bardock..."

A loud groan caused the birds that would be caught for lunch to scatter out of the trees and fly away. He muttered some profanity under his breath before speaking again. "Look... I can't believe I'm going to say this, but just remember it's only because of your god awful stench. Get in the water, and I'll... _hold you_ until you're warmed up."

The male rolled his eyes as he heard her scream with each step she made until she was chest deep in the lake. Her heaving breath caused her to speak broken down words as she poked his back. "P-Promise... To...Keep...Your...E-Eyes...On...My...Face..."

"I'll do you one better and keep them on the leaves."

Keeping his word, Bardock turned around and pulled the shivering woman tightly into his arms. The two remained silent until his body heat began unfreezing her body. Once she felt her breathing return to normal, the tiny Saiyan cleared her throat.

"Can I ask you something?" Gine questioned as her lips began to return to their normal color. Her eyes were studying Bardock's, wondering how cooperative he was going to be today. He had already surprised her by offering his arms, so maybe she was onto something. "Uhm... If you don't mind?"

"Shoot."

A grateful smile crossed Gine's face. Even if the male's attention seemed to be on the leaves up above them that were dancing on the trees, he was still speaking to her. "If all you look for is strength in a mate, then why haven't you found one, yet? Almost all the females back at home are tremendously powerful... So, there obviously has to be something more, right?"

That famous scowl found its way back to Bardock as his eyes locked with hers. "Mates are for breeding purposes, only. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Then why have you been waiting so long?" Gine pressed further, blinking her long lashes. "You're a big fat liar, you know that? I don't care what 'code' you other Saiyans live by, I was taught that when you find the one you're meant to love, you feel a connection that is completely unbreakable; together for life and not wanting it any other way. I know it. I just know it."

The male raised an eyebrow and licked his lips once while thinking. "It's really pathetic you believe in that. No wonder you're so damn weak."

Gine shrugged her bare shoulders, but didn't dare take her eyes off his. She wanted to continue challenging him, figure out what caused all that moodiness. "And your children will be too if power is the only thing you're concerned with. And for breeding purpose only? Give me a break. I guarantee you that you'll give birth to a legend if you and your mate share an unbreakable connection. Compassion is undying, while greed can only bring you down."

Bardock took a deep breath to calm himself down, realizing that was holding Gine so close that there wasn't an inch of space between them. Despite what she has seen him do and what he has done to her, a look of determination and will never once left her face as she glared up at him. There was something about it all that was making his chest begin to swell with something he didn't recognize. "Well... Despite all the bullshit you've been spitting, I have to admit it sounds good coming out of your mouth. You have your way of finding a mate, I have mine. Can we agree on that?"

The woman finally smiled and nodded her head, the droplets at the ends of her hair ticking his Herculean chest. "Agreed. Still, I hope you'll swing my way."

Bardock watched her cheeks flare up as she realized what she had just said. The way that she had pressed her burning cheek against his wet cheek to fail at hiding it that continued to make that god awful yet sensational feeling begin to grow more. And her long eye lashes giving his skin kisses, the way her lips moved against his body as she began murmuring apologies until...

"Oh no..." she breathed, her eyes starting to widen with terror as she felt something press against her. Bardock blinked, unsure of what had gotten into her after becoming momentarily lost.

"Gine? What is it?"

With still petrified eyes, the woman glanced down slowly. Her fear was confirmed. "T-There's a snake in between us..."

"A snake..?" Bardock followed her eyes, and all humiliation he had ever felt in his entire life had taken over his expression. It definitely wasn't any sort of snake that was bumping up against her...

Before he could explain himself, Gine had pushed herself away from him and began swimming to the surface while screaming, "GET OUT OF THERE, BARDOCK! IT'S GOING TO KILL YOU!" The woman was so frantic; that once she got to the grass she kept on running, completely forgetting to grab her armor.

The scarred Saiyan watched as the tiny naked Gine began to disappear from sight. "Shit," he muttered, hurriedly getting out of the lake and putting at _least_ his pants on. Leaving behind everything he else save his scouter, he turned the device on to locate the first woman who had ever witnessed a snake, hoping to the Gods that it remained in the waters.


	8. Chapter 8

He would become one with the stars almost every week, yet Tora could never stop being amazed by the vastness of it all. The tall Saiyan reclined in his seat with his hands behind his back, occasionally glancing away from the window shield at his drowsy copilot. "Damn. Crazy, isn't it?"

A single vein pulsated on Fasha's forehead, unsure as to why her partner kept disturbing her rest. She kept her eyes closed tightly and slumped down further. "What the hell do you want now!?"

"Yikes," Tora chuckled and raised his hands in front of him defensively, although Fasha couldn't see. "No need to sound so annoyed. I'm talking about... _this_. The planets we're passing, the stars, the universe... It's like, we're so small compared to it all. I don't think I've ever felt so insignificant in my life until I started looking out the window during these flights instead of sleeping!"

At the mention of the 'S' word, the low class warrior punched the woman on the arm. Before his balled fist could reach her flesh, Fasha snapped her eyes open and caught it. Tora laughed nervously as he looked into the serious eyes of an exhausted female Saiyan.

"Can you just shut up for _one_ minute!? One damn minute!?" she clenched his fist tighter and inched closer to his face with every word. "Nobody cares about the damn stars, nobody cares about how many damn planets you see, and nobody cares about how small you are! Just. Shut. UP!"

 **"Be prepared to make landing on Planet Stratreon in ten minutes."**

Startled by the sound of the automated voice coming from the control panel, Fasha dropped Tora's fist without waiting for a response and glared at the machine. "What does that even mean? 'Be prepared'? Do we have to land this stupid thing ourselves!?"

Tora smirked while brushing Fasha's fingers away from the panel. "I'm surprised that Miss Know-it-All-and-Do-It-Myself doesn't understand much about the rescue ships," he chuckled when he felt the wrath of her fist against his temple, although it was much more playful than he expected. If she were truly offended, he would have flown out the side the window. "Since the rescue ships are much larger than our usual pods, self crash-landing could cause an entire hole through the planet and damage the thing. We've got to land in gently on where the map detects a safe spot."

"Mister technical today, aren't we?" Fasha scoffed, but her cheeks were slightly pink from not realizing it before. She absolutely hated when Tora, Tora of all people, were smarter than her. She could accept Bardock, hell even Shugesh being the smartest of the crew. But Tora was the idiot! "Whatever, just land the damn thing..."

"No need to mumble your defeat," Tora whistled, but became silent when the ship began to rock from turbulence. He eyed the map carefully while gripping the wheel tightly. He was no pilot, but he had learned basic training about these ships prior to joining Bardock's crew. The poor bastard never had to rescue someone before, though, so he thought he'd never need to remember it. "Alright...Easy, easy..."

Fasha sweatdropped while watching her copilot talk to himself. "Can't walk the walk, big guy?" she gulped, clenching the sides of her seat as the ship continued to rock while the descent began. "Please tell me we're going to survive this..."

"Just relax, ol' girl. I got this," Tora was trying to build his own confidence up instead of the nervous woman beside him. He took a deep breath and turned the wheel in the direction of the coordinates. "If we survive this though, you owe me a kiss."

"In that case, dying doesn't sound so bad after all."

Tora laughed, and began fiddling with the control panel to the best of his memory. "I may have to close my eyes for this."

"WHAT!?" Fasha screamed as the pilot blocked his own vision, smiling the whole time as he sent the ship towards the planet whose colors made it look like it was on fire. The female Saiyan could feel her chest beating so hard she could feel it in her ears while clutching her heart and Tora's bicep at the same time. The ship was beginning to beep like crazy and flash red, something the poor woman had no idea about.

But red was never a good color.

"I WAS KIDDING ABOUT DYING YOU KNOW!"

As the ship was going down faster and faster, it was also growing hotter and hotter. It was getting so hot, that Fasha believed they were soon going to burn up into nothing. Her forehead and hair were beginning to become drenched in sweat, her heartbeat increasing so much that the sound was deafening...

She finally closed her eyes as darkness took over.

* * *

Starting to feel a little guilty about leaving her leader behind, Gine had finally calmed down enough to slow down. Panting heavily, the tiny female lowered herself to the cold grass until she was sitting cross-legged.

"Gosh," she breathed out, talking to an insect that resembled a little ladybug that scurried across the ground. "Where the heck did Bardock go? I couldn't have been running that fast...could I?"

A breeze rolled by, kissing various parts of her body that it definitely should not. "Oh, no!" the mortified female frantically got back on her feet, covering her bare chest with her forearm and using her other hand for the spot she'd rather not give a name to. Her face completely dropped once a rustling began in the bushes, realizing that being naked was the least of her worries.

There was still the issue of the snake.

"I-I don't want to hurt you!" she called out, trembling out of fear rather than frigidness. "But if you come out of that bush right now... I have no choice! I'll make you snake stew! OH YEAH! My boss looooooves snake stew!"

Truthfully, Gine really had no idea if Bardock liked snake stew. She'd have to remember to ask him once this whole ordeal was over.

Unless...

Removing the hand that covered her chest, Gine rested it against her face in worry. "Oh no...What if...What if it killed Bardock?"

The rustling continued, reassuring Gine that the snake had done the deed. It was the only explanation as to why he wasn't with her yet. Dropping to her knees due to a heavy heart, the poor woman began crying silently until it erupted into a full-on sob. "Oh, you evil snake! How could you!? I never even had the chance to tell him!"

"Tell him what?" a voice came somewhere inside the bush, causing Gine to inch backwards.

"WHAT!? You can TALK!?" Gine narrowed her eyes and tried shaking her fright away. If Bardock truly had lost his life against this creature from the lake, she needed to avenge him. As sad as it was, she was on her own now until the others came to rescue her. She _had_ to survive, for Bardock's sake. "Alright, you demon! Come out!"

Gine jumped to her feet and placed herself into a fighting stance as the bushes began rustling once more. Taking advantage of the opportunity of showing herself first, Gine charged towards the bush and began throwing her fist rapidly in front of her. Her eyes were closed tightly, but she could feel her fists clashing with something cold and hard.

"YES! I've got you now!"

"Gine. What the hell are you doing?"

The woman froze with her two balled hands resting against the snake's body. She opened her eyes slowly, finally recognizing the voice. Her eyes took in the sight of muscular pectorals, still dripping wet from a bath in the lake. She scanned upwards, and blinked into the eyes of her boss. "B-Bardock? You're...alive?"

The messy-haired warrior sighed in relief, noticing the sparkle in her eyes when she said the last word. She never figured out what the snake really was. "Yes, Gine. I'm alive. I killed the snake."

"OH, YAY!" the tiny female cheered, and jumped up so high that her legs wrapped around Bardock's torso. Only one of them remembered she was wearing her birthday suit. "So, the snake is gone forever!?"

"...Not if you keep holding onto me..."

Gine pulled her face away from his chest and blinked. Her leader was as red as the sunset sky, adverting his eyes and looking at something in the distant. "...Huh? What do you mean?"

With the naked monkey woman still clinging onto him, Bardock whipped around in the direction of the power level his scouter was starting to pick up. Protectively, he placed his arms on the small of her back and began backing away slowly. "Listen, this is the highest power I've detected on this planet. I thought everyone was dead... I must have been wrong."

"Thank goodness!"

"Shut up!" Bardock snapped, looking at her with hardened orbs as he continued to back himself into the woods. "I'm going to drop your stupid self off right here and you better stay here until I take care of it!"

"Hmph!" Gine huffed, tightening her grip on his neck as he tried prying her off him. "I just felt a breeze in a place I shouldn't! Did it ever occur to you to bring my clothes after beating up the snake!?"

Starting to feel his eye twitch at the strength that came from the weak woman's stubbornness, Bardock backed her into a tree to help against resistance. His scouter was warning him that the person was coming closer and closer. He still wouldn't be a threat to the leader of the lower-class, but he had just about enough of Gine's shenanigans. "Look, I don't have time to deal with your bullshit! You're going to stay _here_ ," with a quick power up, Gine's legs shook enough that they released their grip on the male. Her feet were on the ground, scrunching up in pain at the coldness of it while her hands remained locked on his neck. "We'll go get your damn clothes after I handle this situation!"

Unbidden, Gine's gaze rose. Her face contorted into a mask of sudden hatred she never felt before. When her lips curled into a snarl, Bardock raised his brows in surprise. It was only once before, back when they first got left behind, that he had seen her be anything but sweet. He actually felt like he was staring into the cold orbs of a Saiyan warrior.

"What are you going to do?" he smirked. "Cry?"

The immense trembling of her body would indicate so, but something was brewing underneath that wasn't sadness or frustration. It had been an emotion she'd long to release on all those who considered her nothing but dead weight. She _knew_ she was more than people gave her credit for. Some messy-haired devil wasn't going to ruin that.

Her little fist connected with the jaw of her boss, but the action alone wasn't enough to move him. Bardock's smirk grew against her fist, looking down at her with an admiration that was rarely given to someone. His arms gripped her dainty shoulders, pushing her back against the tree while she huffed.

"Even with all that rage I caused you," he traced the outline of her cheek with his thumb, noticing her features immediately soften. "You're still...weak."

Gine sniffed, giving in to his touch. She just wasn't a fighter, never was and never could be. She gave him a faint smile and grasped his wrist. "Yeah, but you know what?"

"Hn?"

"Well, I don't think your inexpressive anymore!" Gine blushed and tried not to look down. "I figured it out... You didn't kill the snake..."

"H-o-l-y shit!" Tora laughed, while the startled stranded Saiyans jumped in response. A flushed Bardock had his back facing him, while Gine immediately dived her naked body into the bushes. "You two sure are lucky Fasha fainted during the landing! If she knew the mating was a success, you'd never hear the end of it!"

* * *

 **A/N** : OHMYGOSH :-( This was the one story that hasn't been updated for months and months :-( I'm still so in love with it, college is just kicking my butt man. I hope my followers still read this, though. I'm planning on being more frequent with this as it is my favorite to write next to When the Sun Rose, which will be updated tomorrow or Sunday.

The plan for this is to end at the moment Planet Vegeta explodes, so baby Goku and Raditz will appear at some point. I JUST NEED TO GET THERE DARN IT ;( But i can't rush this because it'll be more horrid than now.

Still, I am going to make it one of my priorities to update this at least once a week or every two weeks, because it's a hobby of mine that makes me so happy. Thank you guys for taking a look at this! I appreciate it all the time!


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Decided to start the chapter with a small section from the previous one since it has been a looooong time. That makes me so sad because this story makes my heart so damn happy but I just felt like people weren't waiting for updates ._. I'm so sorry for those that have been waiting. I hope to finish this story up soon, and hopefully post more than one chapter before the week is over.

Enjoy!

* * *

Unbidden, Gine's gaze rose. Her face contorted into a mask of sudden hatred she never felt before. When her lips curled into a snarl, Bardock raised his brows in surprise. It was only once before, back when they first got left behind, that he had seen her be anything but sweet. He actually felt like he was staring into the cold orbs of a Saiyan warrior.

"What are you going to do?" he smirked. "Cry?"

The immense trembling of her body would indicate so, but something was brewing underneath that wasn't sadness or frustration. It had been an emotion she'd long to release on all those who considered her nothing but dead weight. She _knew_ she was more than people gave her credit for. Some messy-haired devil wasn't going to ruin that.

Her little fist connected with the jaw of her boss, but the action alone wasn't enough to move him. Bardock's smirk grew against her fist, looking down at her with an admiration that was rarely given to someone. His arms gripped her dainty shoulders, pushing her back against the tree while she huffed.

"Even with all that rage I caused you," he traced the outline of her cheek with his thumb, noticing her features immediately soften. "You're still...weak."

Gine sniffed, giving in to his touch. She just wasn't a fighter, never was and never could be. She gave him a faint smile and grasped his wrist. "Yeah, but you know what?"

"Hn?"

"Well, I don't think your inexpressive anymore!" Gine blushed and tried not to look down. "I figured it out... You didn't kill the snake..."

"H-o-l-y shit!" Tora laughed, while the startled stranded Saiyans jumped in response. A flushed Bardock had his back facing him, while Gine immediately dived her naked body into the bushes. "You two sure are lucky Fasha fainted during the landing! If she knew the mating was a success, you'd never hear the end of it!"

Bardock swiveled his body around in a clumsy motion that very unlike his character. Tora was pumping his fist in the air, absolutely thrilled that their plan had work.

"It's not what you think!" was all the scarred Saiyan could say. His words didn't help his conviction; for the naked woman in the bushes had reemerged with a quick bikini she made out of leaves and twigs. The slender female took a look down to make sure her goodies were completely covered and took a stance beside her boss, who was still flushed bright pink.

Acting as casual as possible, Gine pranced her way over to the pony-tailed rescuer and propped her elbow up on his high shoulder.

"You'd be surprised how much living among the Stratreons has changed us! We have adapted to their practices of becoming nudists!"

Bardock groaned into the palm of his hand the same time Tora arched an eyebrow. The stupid little woman was making this situation worse instead of better.

"Just tell him the truth dumbass," the boss growled. His could feel his cheeks getting hotter and hotter, wondering why Gine wasn't as mortified as he was. "About the snake you saw while bathing and you ran away like a coward."

There was downward turn of Tora's mouth, understanding now that the mating trick had failed. Of course Bardock, of all people, would never fall victim to anyone. He just thought there was something truly special about the newly proclaimed nudist that could have really changed his old, stubborn friend.

"Ah, so your clothes are still back wherever you were?"

Bardock released a sigh of relief. His second in command was disappointed by the half-truth, but at least it would save him from the torture of his face burning. All of his holly-jolly, red-faced shit didn't start happening until _she_ happened.

The leader gritted his teeth together when he looked at her. She was still holding herself up by leaning on Tora, but brows were scrunched together in confusion. Bardock was beginning to drive himself to insanity with his new found anger for this... scrawny, weak, gentle, butcher-aspiration having woman. He clenched his fist to stop him from becoming violent when she smiled at him suddenly.

It was like that little beautiful twitch of the muscle was a light switch to all sorts of unwanted energy, a wrong button that was pushed and sent electricity down his spine.

How _dare_ she make him lose control, and in front of his very own crew member.

"Yeah that's right Tora," he spat. The coldness of his voice caused Gine to slump away from Tora's shoulder and frown. "It's pathetic how much fear she has. She's not worthy to be called a Saiyan, among other things."

The poor sweet Gine who had done nothing or said anything wrong looked like a floating spirit with nowhere to go. Her already large eyes grew more, filling up with an emotion that could only be described as lost. She blinked her saddened irises at her boss, but he had turned his attention to the bark on a nearby tree.

Tora awkwardly rubbed the sweat off his neck. He had known Bardock for years, and the guy has always been a bit hostile. Still, the words were even harsh to the ears of a man who wasn't even part of the attack.

What exactly had happened here?

"Okay then... Are you going to get her clothes, at least? That snake must have been quit the creature to make her leave without them..."

When Gine saw the sweatdrop form on Bardock's turned face, she placed her hands on her hips in a sassy manner. Unlike her counterpart, she wasn't violent or ever muttered cruelties. She did, however, love revenge.

"Oh, there was no snake at all! It was Bardock's-"

Tora jumped back when the leafed-up woman's mouth was covered by two large hands. She was still trying to talk to him in a muffled voice despite for a reddened Bardock doing his best to prevent it from happening.

"We'll meet you back at the ship!" he shouted out of spite. Gine was flailing her arms as if she was being kidnapped, and Tora actually considered taking her with him instead. But that just meant he'd have to explain a nearly naked Gine to Fasha.

"Uhm...alright, Bardock. Hopefully you're both well rested, we have another mission right after we leave here."

"OKAY BYE."

Tora blinked rapidly hearing Gine's muffled screams as Bardock flew away with her. He shook his head, unsure of whether he made their relationship better or worse. The tall warrior took flight, his jump into the air causing almost all the leaves to fall off their branches and collect in piles on the ground. He located Fasha with his trust scouter, relieved to find her awake now although she was still sitting in the rescue ship.

"You haven't found them yet?" were the first words out of her mouth as soon as Tora climbed inside to sit beside her. He began fiddling with the control panel, only adding to Fasha's suspense. She gave him a hard punch on the shoulder.

"Ow!"

"Why haven't you found them!? Did something happen!? I could have sworn I picked up Bardock."

Tora nodded to himself when the lights came back on inside the ship, signaling that it worked and would soon be ready for take off. He looked over at Fasha and gave her a half smile. There were very few times he looked into those piercing dark eyes and saw a light. Although he knew what would result of it, he draped his muscular arm over her shoulder.

"They're alright, just needed to ready themselves before this next mission."

Fasha drew herself away a little so she was able to look at his face. One of her thin black eyebrows became arched. "I really do hope I'm wrong, but you sound...oh shit, what's the word... sad?"

Tora shrugged his shoulders slightly when he let out a short laugh. With all the laughs and grins he got out of working with his crew, he was beginning to wonder if the purpose of the Saiyan race was really only to fight and die. There was no in-between. Sons and daughters that were born were sent always, always sent away, and mates never cared for each other.

Maybe Bardock had fought so hard against Gine for that very reasoning, for his boss was the absolute definition of what Saiyans stood for.

"What's wrong with you, asshole? Talk to me."

Tora's hold on Fasha's shoulder tightened at her form of terms of endearment. His eyes had left hers to look at the control panel while he was lost in thought.

"I'm just thinking about the next mission. Please do your best not to scar your face, it would be terrifying to look at a face of another Bardock."

She snorted, but remained silent after that. It was a comfortable silence. They waited patiently for their formerly lost crew members to return, and Tora tried to ignore the fact that she didn't shy away from his hold.

* * *

"Why do you always have to be like that?"

Gine glared at the back of Bardock's stupid head as she slipped into her black tights. The male was standing with his back to her and was looking up at the mid-afternoon sky, which was painted golden by the sun. He hadn't spoken a word to her since he hi-jacked her back to the lake. She continued to speak anyway.

"Like, you're so mean when it's really uncalled for. I understand you're not an emotional guy, but I'm starting to think you have dual personalities."

Two white boots placed on either foot, followed by unnecessary grunting.

"That's pretty serious if you do. It would explain a lot."

A dress-like top with built-in chest plates slid down her thin body, and she shook until it fit just right.

"I think that deer you wanted to eat may have peed on my armor. Yuuuuck!"

Once her pink wristbands were in place, she tapped Bardock on his shoulder blade until he finally let out a groaning noise. She huffed when he didn't turn around to greet her or even acknowledge her.

Bardock was about to turn around and yank her by the wrist back to the ship when he felt cold arms wrap around his torso. He shifted uncomfortably when Gine's nose pressed against his back. Sometimes he didn't realize how short she was in comparison to him.

"I don't like when you say those cruel things to me, and I'm not going to let you push me around. But now that I know you have a split personality, I'll do my best to understand and I'll always be your friend."

"I DON'T HAVE-" Bardock sighed loudly and pinched the bridge of his nose. He took a deep breath and could feel Gine's arms moving with his ribs. She had absolutely no idea of Tora's and Fasha's plans to have him mate with her. Her mind was as innocent as her body was pure. She was one of the few people that didn't deserve his hate. "Look... let's just move on from this whole experience, alright? I'm your boss and your my crew member. Let's keep it that way."

Gine's eyes brightened when she felt him turning around in her arms. He was now looking directly down at her, and got a firm grip on her small shoulders to keep her from rubbing up against him.

"I never thought anything different!" she beamed. "Although I prefer 'friend', crew member is just fine with me!"

His lip twitched upward into something that could be described as a smile, but the woman wasn't sure. He took a deep breath again, closing his eyes while doing so and opening them when he heard her giggle.

"What?" his eyes narrowed. Why the hell was she always happy, even after being treated like shit?

"I was just thinking that since we are all 'professional' now, how about when we finally return to Vegeta I'll show you my butchering skills and cut you up a nice hunk of deer!?"

Bardock's stomach rumbled at the thought. He removed himself from Gine but motioned for her to follow him, hoping to the gods that Tora and Fasha had packed some food on that ship. Crow on the cob just didn't do it for him.

A noise next to him was causing his ear to twitch.

"What do you think your doing?"

"Humming...?"

"Well, stop that."

She did.

For twenty seconds.

"...You've got a friend in me..." she sang out, but lowered her voice when Bardock glared at her.

"What did I just tell you?"

"You've got troubles and I got 'em too," she leaned her head against his shoulder as they walked, causing his left eye to twitch. "There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you, we stick together and can see it through. You know why?"

"..."

"You've got a friend in me!"

Bardock flung the woman over his back in one swift move and took off into the sun-setting sky. She began making dramatic noises to annoy him, but secretly she enjoyed being carried so much. Her boss, on the other hand, _had_ to do this.

He felt a smile coming on.


End file.
